“We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, the coming days,” Joe Biden said unequivocally Friday for the first time after weeks of looming crisis in the former USSR.“We believe that they will target Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people,” Biden went on to say in dire terms, clearly preparing the U.S.
for the clash between Vladimir Putin’s forces and Ukraine, with NATO poised to become involved. “We are calling out Russia’s plans loudly and repeatedly, not because we want a conflict but because we’re doing everything in our power to remove any reason that Russia may give to justify invading Ukraine.”“The entire free world is united,” Biden declared.“As of this moment, I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” the president asserted of Putin’s mind-set, speaking during a short back and forth with reporters from the White House’s Roosevelt Room after his formal remarks. “As of this moment, there’s reason to believe that,” Biden added, noting “considerable intelligence” reports.
Biden also was again clear that there would be no U.S. troops with boots on the ground in Ukraine, at least not yet.At this point, it seems Putin is keeping his reported word to ally Chinese President Xi Jinping not to start a war until the Beijing Winter Olympics are over.
The games are scheduled to conclude with the traditional closing ceremony on February 20. With tensions and clashes escalating in eastern Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Tony Blinken are meeting face-to-face with European leaders today at the Munich Security Conference.
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